As usual, the media fixates on the least interesting part of this RichRod interview – the “regrets, he’s had a few” admission about taking the Michigan job – and ignores what he had to say about the offensive trend which he had a major role in shaping. Start with this question, which is a fair one when you consider that you’ve got a high-profile program at Florida abandoning the spread to return to a pro-style attack:

If the spread has “peaked”

RR: Everything is cyclical, but I think the spread is not easily defined. I’m sure you’ve heard coaches say this before, there isn’t one kind, just like there is not one pro-style. Even though a west coast offense is pretty much a west coast offense. When you see the spread now, you know us and other teams that were using it — Oklahoma State, other – we’re still using tight ends and fullbacks they were just in the shotgun a lot, using a lot of no-huddle. I think the spread has taken so many different forms on that it’s kind of here to stay. You know you see a spread team use tight ends and maybe a fullback in the shotgun, you saw it with Green Bay in the Super Bowl. I think it’s constantly evolving, I think even though they still call it a spread it’s not like a “run n’ shoot” type of spread. It’s taken on so many forms and it’s evolved in so many ways I think it’s probably here to stay. In the NFL there is so much talk about pro-style but there’s as many or more teams in the NFL that get in a shotgun. It’s not easily defined, and that’s probably why it’s going to stay around a while.

And the question I’ve had from the start with the spread, how quarterbacks trained in that scheme translate to the pros, gets two answers.

On making the jump from the spread college offense to the NFL

RR: I think it’s so overstated from a standpoint of this guy played in a spread in college so he’s going to have a bigger adjustment. If you look at the success of guys in the last several years, I think it’s irrelevant whether they came from spread system or pro-style. I mean Sam Bradford was the first pick in the draft, he played in a spread system and he did pretty well;. Colt McCoy played, Tim Tebow also played as a rookie, and they all came from spread systems. I think it’s more rather how coachable a guy is, how quickly he can learn. Even if you come from a pro-style in college, you still are going to have to learn when you get to the NFL. You have to learn the terminology, the speed of the game; in my opinion if you are in the right kind of spread and get coached up it can actually help make the transition easier because you have to make quick, active decisions. The best quarterback in the NFL makes quick, accurate decisions. It’s not so much whether he can take a three-step or a five-step drop under center.

That’s a bit of a stretch to me in that he emphasizes McCoy’s and Tebow’s accomplishments a bit more than they deserve to this point. Let’s see them thrive this season as starters and I’ll concede Rodriguez’ point.

Adjustments for quarterbacks from college to NFL

RR: The speed of the game is going to be the biggest adjustment, and the windows that you can throw in. When you go from high school to college that window becomes smaller and quicker, when you go from college to pros the windows you can throw become tighter and you have to make a quicker decision. I think learning the terminology is the first thing, the second thing is understanding how fast, how timely you have to be with your throws. Whether you are coming from a pro-style or a spread style there’s still that understanding.

Okay, but isn’t he really saying there that quarterbacks coming from pro-style college offenses have a leg up on their spread counterparts because the first half of that learning curve is more familiar to them? And there’s this, too:

Running the ball in the spread

RR: There’s a difference between the spread at Oregon, Auburn, some of the ones we did, and then a so-called spread in the NFL. There’s a lot more running involved, and I think that’s two-fold: In the NFL your guys are so much faster on the front 7, they can chase things down. I think in college you can have a little more variety, guys can be a little more creative and run a different type of run scheme than you would in the NFL. I think at some point in the NFL I wouldn’t be surprised if someone starts taking a third quarterback and making him be a quarterback that can run and throw a little bit, use him in all different ways.

Some of this no doubt is due to imprecise terminology, as the term “spread” is used to describe a variety of offensive sets and philosophies. Still, it’s fair to say that there’s clearly been some blurring of the lines between “pro-style” and “spread”. It’s also fair to say there’s a limit on how far that goes.

7 responses to “The spread just keeps on spreading.”

Okay, but isn’t he really saying there that quarterbacks coming from pro-style college offenses have a leg up on their spread counterparts because the first half of that learning curve is more familiar to them?

I didn’t get that at all. He’s saying that the windows for receivers close a lot faster at each subsequent stage of football, regardless of the system in which the offense is playing.

Not really. In watching those Jon Gruden clips where he sits down with presumptive high QB picks, it is apparent that the language of an NFL quarterback is pretty darn foreign. Guys who come from a pro-style offense may be more familiar with bizarre QB language, but the NFL is a doctorate program compared to the terms college QB’s are using.

Well then there’s Cam Newton in kindergarten, calling plays things like ‘play 34′.

I don’t think Colt McCoy looked to the sideline after the team is set to get the play. Which hurts the progression of a QB. And there is a reason no true fast paced spread QBs have been able to step in and start the first NFL game like say, Bradford (who I feel actually ran more pro than spread at Ok), Ryan or Stafford.

He explains why the spread works in College and not the nfl. In the NFL the front 7 can chase them down a little quicker. Yes, the windows are smaller, the spread works because defense are only allowed 20 hours a week to beat it. So everything is about getting space where as the NFL, that space can come from a scheme but the window will be tiny compared to what these spread qbs see in college.

“I think in college you can have a little more variety, guys can be a little more creative and run a different type of run scheme than you would in the NFL.” Interesting RR asserts this because he sees a lack of speed as the flaw in college front 7s; that seems more a reflection of life in the Big East and/or 10 (even though our ’05 Sugar Bowl effort certainly didn’t undermine it).

Still, to me, the success RR’s “different type of run scheme” has enjoyed in the SEC wasn’t based on outrunning front 7s. It arose from bruiser QBs who could run through a LB without a lead blocker to convert 3rd-and-3; when defenses realized that they had to put 2 helmets on the QB was when the speed-backs a la Demps, Harvin, or McCalebb found space & astronomical numbers.

To me, that’s the limitation the SEC spread faces in the NFL. For one, NFL LBs aren’t going to regularly lose battles against QBs. And even if some do, how long into the 16-game season would the QB last?

That’s also why I’d argue that QBs raised in the spread have a longer learning curve. Taking off has been one of their progressions for 3-5 years and has to be completely re-tooled to ensure the QB’s survival. Perhaps RR focuses on ‘teachability’ for this reason. I’ll be watching Tebow w/ interest this fall–to the extent, of course, I’m not focused on his RB.

My only issue with the spread qb can’t be a good pro qb argument is that if you look at the top qbs in the NFL, they are playing in the spread. Rogers, Brees, Brady, Manning…all seem to be playing in some sort of spread O and thriving.

But they are by and large not going to run it out of the spread. Rogers can but he can be hurt. A clue to what UF thought about Tebow was his statue is of him running. This is probably the first Heisman Trophy QB in a while that is thought of as a running QB. If Brady or Manning ran the ball they would last two games max. Cam is from a school that has a very good high school OC that has a system that keeps it totally simple so he can put an athlete in a position to win. The QB’s that come up to the line and look to the sideline for their calls may make it in the pro’s if they can teach them French as Gruden said. The Pros don’t use flash cards and the head set is cut off at the point in time the QB is set to go. Good luck with that Cam.

Bloviation for the Dawgnation

Quote Of The Day

“I didn’t know I got criticism,” Richt quipped, feigning incredulousness. “It’s just the nature of the beast. If you can’t take criticism, then you shouldn’t coach.” -- AJ-C, 7/21/15